Zud
Songster
I did a light cleaning of the hen house this morning and decided to finally take some photos of our finished chicken coop to share here. I've never really built or designed any sort of shed or building before, and this took me a good portion of the summer to actually finish all the details on, but I think it turned out ok. I think it's a good meeting of form and function.
The hen house is 4x8 and about 7-1/2' high per NYC code to build without a permit. The run is 8x14 and fully screened in with 1/2" hardware cloth. There's also a 3' - 1/2" hardware cloth apron around the entire structure. Predator wise, we really only have raccoons for land animals (we're on an island, so we don't even have fox or anything like that), but I wanted to make it difficult for mice or any similar pests to find their way in. We do have Osprey, hawks and eagles, so the run is fully covered with hardware cloth.
I added a small metal roof inside the run to create dry space during foul weather, though our girls love the rain. We'll see how they feel about the snow fairly soon.
The chicken ramp doubles as a door I can latch closed in case I need to keep the hens in or out of the henhouse.
I used a vinyl flooring in the henhouse and to line the nest boxes for easy cleanup. The roost bars and nesting boxes are also removable for easy cleaning.
I do regret that the space under the nesting boxes is a little difficult to get to with a broom for cleaning, but it's so far the only thing I'm considering redesigning and really not that big of a deal that I feel I *need* to.
We added curtains to the nesting boxes because the girls seemed to need more privacy and it was the easiest fix without totally rebuilding them.
I put a large thermometer on the wall that can be easily seen in the reolink camera I installed in the corner. We can make sure the girls have settled in the evenings and also monitor the temperature in the hen house even if we're not home.
In addition to the 3 windows that are left open in the warm months, the eaves of the roof are vented, and there's also a ridge vent (which I really only did because my amateur building skills left the the roof so imperfect, it was easier to have a gap in the ply on each side than to not).
I was able to use recycled lumbar that the previous owners of our home had left in or basement for much of the framing, so that helped keep the costs down.
We'll soon see if I need to make any winter adjustments aside from a water heater situation, which I haven't quite wrapped my head around yet.
The girls seem not to mind it, anyway.
The hen house is 4x8 and about 7-1/2' high per NYC code to build without a permit. The run is 8x14 and fully screened in with 1/2" hardware cloth. There's also a 3' - 1/2" hardware cloth apron around the entire structure. Predator wise, we really only have raccoons for land animals (we're on an island, so we don't even have fox or anything like that), but I wanted to make it difficult for mice or any similar pests to find their way in. We do have Osprey, hawks and eagles, so the run is fully covered with hardware cloth.
I added a small metal roof inside the run to create dry space during foul weather, though our girls love the rain. We'll see how they feel about the snow fairly soon.
The chicken ramp doubles as a door I can latch closed in case I need to keep the hens in or out of the henhouse.
I used a vinyl flooring in the henhouse and to line the nest boxes for easy cleanup. The roost bars and nesting boxes are also removable for easy cleaning.
I do regret that the space under the nesting boxes is a little difficult to get to with a broom for cleaning, but it's so far the only thing I'm considering redesigning and really not that big of a deal that I feel I *need* to.
We added curtains to the nesting boxes because the girls seemed to need more privacy and it was the easiest fix without totally rebuilding them.
I put a large thermometer on the wall that can be easily seen in the reolink camera I installed in the corner. We can make sure the girls have settled in the evenings and also monitor the temperature in the hen house even if we're not home.
In addition to the 3 windows that are left open in the warm months, the eaves of the roof are vented, and there's also a ridge vent (which I really only did because my amateur building skills left the the roof so imperfect, it was easier to have a gap in the ply on each side than to not).
I was able to use recycled lumbar that the previous owners of our home had left in or basement for much of the framing, so that helped keep the costs down.
We'll soon see if I need to make any winter adjustments aside from a water heater situation, which I haven't quite wrapped my head around yet.
The girls seem not to mind it, anyway.
